Australia’s population growth pace of 1.6 per cent is the highest in the developed world, and is double that of the United States and United Kingdom.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures had forecast that the country’s population wouldn’t reach between 23.5 and 26.4 million until 2051, however in reached the 25 million milestone in August last year.

New ABS figures show that permanent migration levels have soared to record highs with 832,560 permanent migrants deciding to call Australia home in 2018, a 7.1 per cent increase from 2017 that had also set a record with a 539,000 intake. Net migration is 291,250 – the highest in four and a half years.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) analysis, released last week, shows that in 2016 half of the 1.5 million temporary residents in Australia were living in Sydney (27 per cent) and Melbourne (24 per cent) with a further 14 per cent calling Brisbane home.

The new figures were released just three months after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a former immigration minister, had promised to reduce the immigration intake and also improve the way in which population growth is managed in the country. However, as treasurer before taking on the role of Prime Minister, Mr Morrison had stressed that population growth had also “played a key role in our economic success”.